The match schedule for the opening stage of the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT) has been revealed.

A total of 40 matches will be played in Maricà, Brazil from 8 to 12 May as the third edition of the Tour gets underway in South America. 

The men’s and women’s tournaments will comprise of 20 games featuring six national teams each, with four continents represented in the Brazilian city.

Hosts Brazil, along with Argentina, United States of America and Uruguay will field both men’s and women’s teams with the addition of Germany and Qatar in the men’s event and Portugal, plus Puerto Rico – replacing Mexico – in the women’s event.

An initial six-team, preliminary group in each competition will feature round-robin games across three matchdays – Wednesday 8 May, Thursday 9 May and the morning session of Saturday 11 May with the Saturday evening session comprising of 5/6 placement matches and semi-finals.

Sunday 12 May will feature the bronze medal matches and finals with Friday 10 May scheduled for a rest day.

Familiar foes do battle in men’s competition

Three continental champions will be tested in Brazil as the host nation, the USA and Qatar look to test themselves against their fellow regional powerhouses in the men’s event. Trying to stop them on their way will be Germany, Uruguay and Argentina.

Brazil, Argentina, United States of America and Uruguay return to Maricá after their appearance last year, while Germany and Qatar play in a South American tour stage for the first time.

The last game of the opening day in Maricá is a heavyweight continental clash and repeat of the 2024 SCAHC Men’s Beach Handball Championship gold medal match in Paraguay, which saw Brazil defeat Argentina 2-0 (15:14, 16:8). The Brazilians also defeated Argentina (21:18, 18:7) and Uruguay (22:6, 20:18) 2-0 in the preliminary stage.

On the second day of matches, there is the intriguing match-up between Argentina and the USA, with the South American side aiming to put behind them a 7:6 shoot-out loss in their opening match of the 2022 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in Greece. 

Qatar also revisit a Greece 2022 match-up, taking on Uruguay, whom they beat two years ago in the 5/6 placement match – at the time a crucial victory with the winner back then sealing the final spot for the eventually-cancelled 2023 ANOC World Beach Games.

The final day in Maricá will see Uruguay look to defeat Argentina after losing 13:12 in a preliminary stage shoot-out against Uruguay in Paraguay, while Brazil and Qatar do battle once again, with Brazil winning their last battle via shoot-out (8:6) at Greece 2022.

Brazil, Argentina, Qatar and the USA know each other well, with all four sides playing against each other regularly, including at The World Games 2022. In the preliminary round Brazil saw off both the USA and Argentina 2-0, while the USA defeated Argentina by the same scoreline.

The main round saw Qatar claim a 2-0 victory against Argentina and the Asian champions made it a South American double, defeating Brazil in the semi-final via shoot-out. Brazil then broke American hearts on home sand in Alabama, their 2-0 bronze medal victory depriving the hosts of a podium spot.

Women’s competition features mix of debutants and experience

Uruguay and Portugal make their Tour debuts with opening morning games against Argentina and the USA respectively. 

For Uruguay, it is the chance to get some quick revenge after losing to Argentina 0-2 (16:25, 12:14) at the 2024 SCAHC Women’s Beach Handball Championship in Paraguay earlier this month, while they will still be thinking about an even tighter 2-0 loss, at the 2022 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Greece, when they went down 16:20, 14:18 in the preliminary stage.

Portugal will be hoping to replicate their 2-0 (16:14, 22:20) victory at Greece 2022 over the North American side in their opener before turning their attentions to Argentina later on in the evening, a side who beat them 2-0 to claim seventh spot on the Heraklion sand two years ago.

The USA face Puerto Rico for the third time in four weeks after losing and winning against their continental rivals at the 2024 NACHC Women’s Beach Handball Championship in Puerto Rico in mid-April. After suffering defeat in a round-robin stage shoot-out 1-2 (17:6, 15:16, SO 8:9), the USA won when it mattered – taking the final 2-0 (26:10, 20:16) to claim gold.

Host nation Brazil – winners of this stage in 2023 and overall 2023 BHGT winners – will be the side to beat on home sand, with their clash against rivals Argentina in the final session of the preliminary round eagerly awaited. Last year in Maricá, they defeated Argentina 2-0 twice, once in the round-robin stage and again in the final, 15:12, 19:16.

All matches will be streamed live on the IHF YouTube Competitions channel. Stage 2 and further stages of the 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour will be announced on IHF.info in due course.

Match Schedule
(all times local)

Wednesday 8 May

Preliminary Group - Men
09:50 BRA-USA
11:30 QAT-ARG
13:10 GER-URU
16:50 QAT-GER
18:30 USA-URU
21:10 ARG-BRA

Preliminary Group - Women
09:00 BRA-PUR
10:40 ARG-URU
12:20 POR-USA
16:00 ARG-POR
17:40 PUR-USA
20:20 URU-BRA

Thursday 9 May

Preliminary Group - Men
09:50 BRA-URU
11:30 ARG-GER
13:10 USA-QAT
17:50 ARG-USA
19:30 URU-QAT
21:10 BRA-GER

Preliminary Group - Women
09:00 BRA-USA
10:40 URU-POR
12:20 PUR-ARG
17:00 URU-PUR
18:40 USA-ARG
20:20 BRA-POR

Friday 10 May
Rest Day

Saturday 11 May

Preliminary Group - Men
09:50 URU-ARG
11:30 BRA-QAT
13:10 GER-USA

Preliminary Group - Women
09:00 USA-URU
10:40 ARG-BRA
12:20 POR-PUR

17:00 5/6 Placement Match - Women
17:50 5/6 Placement Match - Men
18:40 Semi-Final 1 - Women
19:30 Semi-Final 1 - Men
20:20 Semi-Final 2 - Women
21:10 Semi-Final 2 - Men

Sunday 12 May

09:00 Final - Women
10:00 Bronze Match - Men
11:40 Bronze Match - Women
12:00 Final - Men

2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 1
Location: Maricá, Brazil
Dates: 8 to 12 May
Men’s Teams: Brazil, Argentina, United States of America, Uruguay, Germany, Qatar
Women’s Teams: Brazil, Argentina, United States of America, Uruguay, Mexico, Portugal

About the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour
The IHF Beach Handball Global Tour was launched at the 2022 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Greece and debuted in Gdansk, Poland with Croatia winning the men’s tournament and Spain taking the top spot in the women’s tournament.

Four teams – Croatia, Germany, Poland and Spain – participated in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

The 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour visited Brazil, Tunisia and Poland before the Finals Stage was held in Doha, Qatar in November, with Qatar’s men and Brazil’s women taking the overall titles.

Overall, a total of 28 teams from 19 nations competed in the 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, Tunisia and United States of America (both men’s and women’s teams), Morocco, Portugal, Qatar, Togo, and Uruguay (men only) and Germany, Kenya, Mali, Mexico and People’s Republic of China (women only).